Wine lovers do not only look for news to know more about the
sector. They also aspire to learn some curiosities. For example,
we just discovered that the oldest wine in the world is
about 8,000 years old. The latest excavations in Georgia
shows that the first recorded winemaking activity took place
during the Neolithic period, around 6,000 BC. It means 600 to
1,000 years before the time specialists previously thought.

About 50 kilometres out of Tbilisi, archaeologists were working
in two Neolithic sites known as Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris
Gora. There, they excavated remains of ceramics used between
6,000 and 4,500 BC. Researchers believe this to be the oldest
example of the domestication of a wild-growing Eurasian vine
solely for the production of wine. Indeed, after analysing eight
jars, they discovered millenary remnants of tartaric
acid, a substance that enable them to affirm it
contained wine.

The archaeological investigation led by the University of Toronto
and the team of the National Museum of Georgia are the remains of
two populations dating from the Neolithic, which
began around 15.200 BC.

Furthermore, researchers explain that ceramic was ideal for the
processing, storing and serving of fermented beverages and that
it already existed in the Neolithic. Moreover, the team describes
Near East societies where drinking and offering wine was
important in many aspects of life (e.g. special
celebrations, at a religious cult).

Finally, additional conclusions based on these remains declare
that the Eurasian vine 'Vitis vinifera' abounded around the
sites, being comparable to regions producing 'premium' wine such
as contemporary Italy or Southern France.